IRA SADOFF
523
schoo l. They seem so comfortabl y domestic it's difficult to believe
Evelyn had a life before Ross, tha t she was once married to me. I sit
back in my canvas chair and try to figure out what she sees in Ross.
Visuall y, Ross is much more a ttractive than I am: he's tall and thin, a
self- consciously conservative dresser (he wears those alligator shirts and
Brooks Bro thers khaki pants whil e lounging around the house), but
there are o ther, more central differences between us. Ross has been "in
therapy" for a number of years, ever since he and his wife split up.
When Evelyn (ells him, " Ross, I wish you'd clear away the dishes ," or
"Tell Benny
to
turn the TV down before we all go deaf, " Ross comes
over to her, puts his arm around her waist and says, "What are you
ang ry about?"
If
a t first she res ists, if she says, " I want the TV turned
down ," he says, "Come on now , reall y," and eventually she breaks
down . " I had an imposs ibl e day a t work," she says, and proceeds to tell
Ross all about it.
The first time they invite me to dinner, Evel yn proudly proclaims
that sh e did not sleep with Ross until the night she left me. Ross
verifi es this interesting fact when they begin to discuss what went
wrong between Evelyn and me. "Wha t went wrong with our marri–
age," I tell them , feigning romanticism, " is a mystery which will
unfo ld onl y over tiine. There are no easy answers ."
" You seem so removed from it," Ross says. "Aren 't you pained by
it? Doesn 't it hurt you to see Evelyn and me together?"
"Of course it hurts," I say. "Do you need an affidavit? "
"We have no right to pry into Michael's life now , Ross ," Evelyn
says as though I weren 't there. "Though Ross
has
been through this
before, Mi chael, and I'm sure he onl y wants to be helpful. "
"Let's leave Ross out of this , Evelyn . He wasn 't an eyewit–
ness .... "
"Let's be fri ends ," she says, walking over to hug me. For a moment
I forge t, kiss ing Evelyn on the forehead, tha t Ross is in the room, that
it's Ross's room , tha t I've been sitting on his leather chrome couch, that
Evelyn is no longer my wife. I feel to tall y disoriented , don 't know what
I'm do ing h ere. But Evelyn takes me by the hand to the dinner table,
shows me where
to
sit, and without saying a word, I lift my fork to my
mouth , I eat.
When Benny is in the room during these discussions, as he often is,
I have the persistent des ire to remove him from these domestic encoun–
ter sessions. Once I ask him to show me around his room: I dutifully
admire his pos ters of T om Seaver, Wonder Woman, the Bee Gees , and
